The impact of the Defeat Depression campaign

Abstract

A postal questionnaire survey of nearly a thousand doctors investigated their awareness of the Defeat Depression campaign.Nearly all the consultant psychiatrists had heard of the campaign compared to less than half of the geriatricians and the general practitioners (GPs). Just over half of the psychiatry trainees had heard of the campaign. GPs who had not heard of the campaign were also less likely to continue antidepressant treatment beyond three months after recovery, less familiar with the psychological therapies, and less confident about treating depression in the elderly. The campaign may benefit from an increased emphasis on doctors other than psychiatrists.

‘A coal face option’: GPs' perspectives on the rise in antidepressant prescribing

“…For example, 'see me', the government-funded Scottish anti-stigma initiative, has conducted high profile media campaigns since 2002, and in 2003 the initiative reached an estimated 89% of the population through television advertising. 25 Although early evaluations of The Defeat Depression Campaign demonstrated conflicting results, [26][27][28] the Editor of the British Journal of General Practice commented in 1999 that 'what matters in the long term is how the messages of the campaign are taken up by individual practice teams and how quickly new research ... is taken up in day-to-day practice'. 29 We believe that there is evidence from the current study that The Defeat Depression Campaign (strengthened by subsequent guidelines) has influenced practice.…”